Leopards fall hard in 4 OTs

Belle Vernon suffers heartbreaking loss to Lancaster Catholic in final seconds

Regulation was not enough time to decide a winner between Belle Vernon and Lancaster Catholic in a PIAA Class 4A second-round contest. Neither was one overtime. Or two. Or three.

The teams battled through four overtimes before Lancaster Catholic claimed a thrilling 84-82 victory.

Devin Atkinson provided the winning points with a pair of free throws with seconds remaining. He finished with 26 points to pace the Crusaders (25-3).

The Leopards’ Jared Hartman had 26 points and seven rebounds. He was one of four players to hit double figures for WPIAL runner-up Belle Vernon (20-8).

Jake Haney added 15, while Devin Whitlock and Thomas Hepple had 14 apiece. Whitlock also dished out 10 assists.

In the second overtime, the Leopards were ahead, 70-67, with 12.7 seconds left, but Ross Conway drilled a 3pointer at the buzzer to keep the game going.

Other Class 4A

Grove City 45, Highlands 38: WPIAL champion Highlands held a 14-7 lead at the end of the first quarter, but fizzled out the rest of the way. The Golden Rams (23-4) scored eight points in each of the final three quarters and were outscored, 19-8, in the fourth. Johnny Crise had 13 points and Korry Myers 10 for Highlands, which saw its fourgame win streak come to a halt. The Eagles were led by Kade Persinger’s 17-point effort. He was followed by Danny Timko with 12 and Dylan Stull with 11. Grove City (18-9) beat a WPIAL team for the first time this season. The Eagles lost to Chartiers Valley and Hampton at the Hampton tournament over the holiday break.

Class 5A

Milton Hershey 81, Obama Academy 57: The Eagles (169) saw their five-game postseason winning streak come to an end after a second-half slump. The Eagles held a 1918 lead just before halftime.

Class 1A

Bishop Canevin 40, Cameron County 39: KeVaughn Price capped a 25point performance by dropping in the game-winning shot with 4.3 seconds remaining to lift the Crusaders into the next round. Price took and inbounds pass from the right sideline, took a few dribbles to the hoop and banked a layup off the backboard that swirled around the rim before falling through. The Crusaders (19-6) trailed, 33-27, heading into the fourth quarter before Price sparked the comeback.

Cornell 53, Elk County Catholic 44: The Raiders rode a hot shooting night from behind the arc to victory. Cornell (19-7) went 8 for 14 from 3-point range. Zaier Harrison and Kaden DiVito each made three 3s and finished with 15 and 14 points, respectively. Isaiah Langston contributed 10 points. Isaac Wortman of Elk County Catholic (26-2) finished with 13 points.